“Muslim Women” in Asia Moors, A

“Muslim Women” in Asia Moors, A. Citation Moors, A. (2008). “Muslim Women” in Asia. Isim Review, 21(1), 56-56. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/1887/17227 Version: Not Applicable (or Unknown) License: Leiden University Non-exclusive license Downloaded https://hdl.handle.net/1887/17227 from: Note: To cite this publication please use the final published version (if applicable). ISIM/Workshop “Muslim Women” in Asia ANNELIES MOORS ISIM organized a workshop on “Transnational Circuits: ‘Muslim Women’ are shifting from matrilineal large extended households into small in- in Asia” as part of the conference on Inter-Asian Connections convened dividual household units with patrilineal emphasis, often in new neigh- by the Social Science Research Council together with the Dubai School bourhoods. Other families choose to remain in the old Muslim area, of Government in Dubai from 21-23 February. The conference aimed building large properties and trying to re-constitute matrilineages, to launch new, transregional, and comparative research initiatives that enabled by remittances from the Gulf. In these settings transnational go beyond more narrowly defined area-studies approaches and focus migration, family relations and notions of the self contitute each other on the connections between different parts of Asia. The workshop ad- interchangeably. Rehana Sultana and K.C. Bindu zoned in on the phe- dressed how women’s subjectivities were transformed in new transna- nomenon of senior Arab citizens visiting Hyderabad to marry young tional circuits of labour and consumption. It focused on the involvement local women. As they pointed out, marriages between an Indian woman of Muslim women in Asia in these circuits, be it as mobile people or as and an Arab man in itself need not pose a problem and are part of a long producers, propagators, and consumers of things, ideas, and images on history of connections with the Arab world. Yet, reported cases of hus- the move. We used the notion “Muslim women” as a heuristic device to bands abandoning wives immediately after a few days of married life move beyond an area studies approach. This focus on Islam and gender point to the sexual exploitation these girls. However, analyzing the 1991 turned out to be fruitful in analyzing three major Inter-Asian circuits: mi- Ameena case—an under-aged girl from Hyderabad rescued from a mar- grant domestic labour, transnational marriages, and fashionable styles riage with an elderly Saudi man—they argued that newspapers used of Muslim dress. this case to blame the Muslim community, a minority already under Studies about migrant domestic labour have often focused on the na- threat, while the story of the young woman herself, who subsequently tionality of domestic workers. However, when focusing on how migrant married a much older local man, was lost. domestic workers connect to their employers or their natal families, and With the turn of the Islamic revival movement towards a more cultural on the sense of belonging they develop, religion is a highly relevant orientation and, especially since the 1990s, fashionable styles of Islamic category, both for Muslim-born migrant domestic workers and for those dress have become a growth sector with materials, designs, and items who became Muslim during their migration trajectory. Bindulakshmi of dress part of transnational circuits of consumption. Vivienne Angeles Pattadath did research with poor Muslim women from Kerala who work zoned in on fashionable styles of dress among Filipina and Malaysian as domestics in the United Arab Emirates. This connection needs to be Muslim women. Affected by the Islamic resurgence of the mid-1970s, seen within the context of long-standing trade links between the Gulf Muslims in both countries have been increasingly manifesting their and coastal Kerala, resulting in a sense of familiarity between Emiratis Muslim identity through the use of Islamic forms of dress. In the Philip- and Muslims from Kerala (including some knowledge of Arabic). Living pines the ethnic clothing worn by tribal communities in the south has for years in the Gulf did not mean that these domestics brought “Gulf been affected by the growing labour migration to Saudi Arabia, with Islam” back home. Many of them went to work in the Emirates to be migrants taking on the abaya and in some cases the face-veil. For the able to better adhere to Keralese notions of propriety. For instance, they Malays, the Islamic revival has contributed to the growing popularity used their savings to provide their daughters with a substantial dowry, of a style of Islamic dress that is not imported from the Middle East but a practice common in South Asia, but not in the Gulf. reflects the evolution of Malay dress to conform to new local interpreta- Academic writing dealing with migrant domestics from the Philip- tions of modesty. Also in Indonesia Islamic fashion emerged along with pines has rarely acknowledged the presence of Muslims amongst them. the Islamic revival movement. Eva Amrullah pointed out how the desire Alicia Pingol focused on Muslim Filipinas migrants to Saudi Arabia work- to wear fashionable styles of veiling was first linked to countries such as ing in the field of care, and on how their work experiences alongside Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Yemen, while more recently Indonesian design- other Muslims sustain or transform their religious beliefs, practices, and ers have developed their own styles of fashionable Muslim dress that identities. Attiya Ahmad discussed the process of conversion of migrant have become an export item and gained a presence in cyberspace. domestic workers to Islam in Kuwait not as a sudden transformation but The discussions highlighted the importance of various forms of media- as a process of “becoming Muslim.” The domestic workers did not dis- zation through magazines, television, or the Internet. Shalina Mehta cuss their conversions in terms of inner motivations and identities, but discussed the impact of the media on bodily appearances of Muslim of how it impacted on their relation with the families for whom they women in a Delhi slum. She pointed to the development of cable televi- worked, other migrants in Kuwait, and their natal families. sion networks targeting a “home bound women audience.” Muslim girls The papers on migrant domestic workers illustrated the link be- who were not allowed to go to college were influenced by a media-cre- tween labour migration and transnational marriages as they included ated cosmopolitan popular culture with respect to dress styles, jewel- examples of the numerous Inter-Asian marriages between men from lery, and accessories. the Middle East and women from South and Southeast Asia. Such tran- The papers show not only the mobility of Muslim women, but also snational marriages are closely intertwined with long-distance move- how different circuits of people, products and ideas are interconnected. ments for the sake of trade, pilgrimage, education, and employment, Whereas previously men from the Gulf involved in trade married South but have gained a new meaning with the emergence of nation-states, and South-East Asian women, after the oil-boom women from these re- laws on nationality and residency, and discourses about national iden- gions started to work in the Gulf States as domestics, sometimes marrying tity. Frances Hasso connected this to “transnational invasions,” a term local men. The same domestic workers brought new fashions back home expressing the cultural anxiety among citizens of the United Arab Emir- which contributed to the development of fashionable styles of Muslim ates and Egypt about increased flows of people, ideas, and products. dress building on local traditions. Various media provided information As she argued, social and political tensions regarding gender relations, about jobs available and propagated new fashions, but also produced a sexuality, and marriage were often inaccurately attributed solely to “ex- discourse of foreign invasions, moral panics, and families in crisis. Clearly, ternal” influences, such as migration and the new media. Whereas dif- the discussions on mobile domestic labour, transnational marriages, and ferent opinions about marriage and sexuality have always co-existed Muslim fashions point to the need to link global trends in the political in lay practices and among Islamic jurists and scholars, this has been economy with the micropolitics of family life and gendered subjectivities, affected by the more stringent laws of modern states. for these fields are at once transnational and personal. Moreover, they Long-distance migration has also led to transformations in family rela- exemplify how money and love, economics and emotions, and national tions in Kerala. Caroline Osella pointed out how in Kozhikode families politics and sexuality constitute each other in people’s everyday lives. Annelies Moors holds the ISIM Chair at Amsterdam University. 56 ISIM R E V I E W 2 1 / S P R I N G 2 0 0 8.

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